Is the Singapore Flyer doomed to fail?

I came across a thread in the Asiaone forum titled "Singapore Flyer is doomed to fail right from the start". I got interested and browsed through the 18 pages (and counting I believe) of comments. http://forums.asiaone.com/showthread.php?t=10569

Out of the 173 posts (at time of reading), less than 5 are positive encouragements. The overwhelming majority cast negative comments, most of which point to the following:

1. Too Expensive, cater for the rich only, hence the rich-poor divide debate...
2. Cater for tourists only, hence the local vs foreigners debate...
3. Another government initiated white elephant.
4. Comparison to well established attractions abroad, like the London Eye, Effiel Tower, etc.
5. Singapore do not have the rich heritage and landscape to attract crowds.

First, if I were to compare prices around the world, I think our price is fair. The reader can google the relevant websites for immediate information.

Second, I do not believe the builders of the Singapore Flyer at any time pretend that the Singapore Flyer is not primarily targetted at tourists. Go to the Effiel Tower any day and pick any of the crowd there and ask for their nationality, do you think you'd find a Parisan who was not working there?

*On a side note:
I recently travelled to Europe on holiday. Been to London, Paris, amongst other cities. And they were populated by tourists! Yes, most probably those places I went were meant for tourists, which is why I see primarily tourists. But it also mean that tourists, including me, are spending money and creating employment for the people of those cities.

I went to the shopping district in the city centre of Paris, and every shopping centres I stepped into, I see hordes of tourists, outnumbering the locals by at least 5 to 1. Of course, many of them are ( and there are many from Asian countries) buying "branded goods" (supposingly cheap, but i wonder how cheap can a prada bag get even at 30% discount off Singapore prices).

Walking along the streets of the European cities, at night or in the day time, I see tourists like me, in hordes, spending in shops, cafes, public transport, etc... I say to myself, yes, the people of London are fortunate in the sense that they inherited many buildings, structures, etc, that were built from times past, and those things are attracting people from all over the world to come to their city to spend. Taking advantage of their "inheritance", the people create shops, cafes, buses, and along with that a whole industry that is geared towards attracting tourists and helping them spend.

Also, I have no doubt that a portion of the money spent by tourists goes to contributing to the conservation of those historic monuments.

Now what is wrong with that?

Third, many well-known monuments, buildings, etc, were often disliked by the locals when they were first built. The city of Paris hated the Effiel Tower when it was first built. The population thought that the ugly mass of steel was a shameful thorn amidst their generally low-rise heritage buildings. The Empire State Building wasn't too appreciated when the idea was first conceived. I could go on, but.

Fourth, if we were to compare the Singapore Flyer to other well-known, well-established attractions, at least give it some time to become well-known, well-established in the first place! Surely Rome was not built in a day, and she certainly took quite some time to earn her reputation.

Fifth, (and those who gave comments pointing to this are the worst lot) for goodness sake, we are only 40plus years old, why would one wants to compare against cities like London, Paris or New York? Even a mundane transport infrastructure such as the London Underground began service more than 100 years before our independence! Let alone more distinguished national monuments.... What is there to compare our heritage with those cities?

Without rich heritage does not mean we give up on our ambition to build one. We have to look for other ways and we will. The Singapore Flyer is but one amongst many attempts to build something we can be proud of. If we will it, our Singapore Flyer is destined for success.